The present invention relates generally to strings of holiday lighting such as those used for decorating Christmas trees.
Strings of lights, that is, plural lights wired together to be powered from a plug inserted into a wall outlet, are used to decorate Christmas trees and homes. They are used for both interior decorating and exterior decorating.
For a 100-lamp light set, there are typically two types: two series circuits and three series circuits. The light sets both work the same, but the difference between the two is the brightness. One type is normal brightness and the other type is referred to as “super” bright. The difference in lamp brightness is attributable to the lamp voltage. The two series circuits have a lower lamp voltage per lamp (2.5V) i.e. 125/50. Each series circuit has 50 lamps.
The three circuit set has a higher per-lamp voltage of (3.5V) i.e. 125/35, for a much higher voltage and brighter lamp. Each circuit has 35 lamps in it. This means that a “super bright” 100-light set actually has 105 lamps in it.
Prior art light strings have the following parts: (1) an AC plug containing two 3 Amp fuses with 1 line side and 1 neutral side, (2) 6″-7″ interconnecting wires (22 AWG) between each socket in the series; (3) 1 AC receptacle at the end of the set; (4) 1 “return” or neutral line (22 AWG) from the receptacle on the end of the set and then back to the last socket of each circuit in the set until it eventually terminates at the plug; (5) 1 “hot” line (22 AWG) from the plug to the first socket in the first circuit in the set; (6) 1 “hot” line (22 AWG) from the plug to the additional series circuits remaining in the set; (7) plastic light sockets for two wires; (8) plastic light sockets for three wires; (9) two brass electrical terminals per wire; (10) plastic lamp plugs to hold the lamps; and (11) miniature glass lamps.
Another type of prior art light system uses series of small groups of lights in parallel with each other and with a programmable group device. This type of light string is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,952, issued to the present inventor and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Each group is in series with each other group. If one or more lights in a group burns out or is removed, the programmable group device is programmed to maintain the current in the remaining lights of the group at levels prior to the burning out or removal of one or more of the lights.
Throughout the world, there are hundreds of millions of strings of holiday lights sold each year. Collectively, they consume significant amounts of energy and produce significant amounts of heat. Even small reductions in the amount of heat and energy consumed by holiday lighting would be a substantial benefit.
Thus, there remains a continuing need for a better string of holiday lights.